spiral

spiralspi‧ral1 /ˈspaɪərəl $ ˈspaɪr-/ ●○○ noun [countable]1CFTURNa line in the form of a curve that winds around a centralpoint, moving further away from the centre all the time2a process, usually a harmful one, in which something gradually but continuously gets worse or betterin/into a spiralUnemployment rose and the city went into a spiral of decline.downward/upward spiralThe company is in a downward spiral.3 →inflationary spiral —spiral adjective

Examples from the Corpus

spiral• It has continued on that downwardspiral since.• Self-pitytends to block taking action that will be truly effective in reversing the downward spirals of primary and familydiseases.• Perhaps the most shockingnews was that children got hit the hardest in this downward spiral.• It is difficult to cook the insidespirals because of the filling so this extra time is important.downward/upward spiral• After an unfortunate and ill-timedbrush with the law, it was almost impossible for Marinello to arrest his downward spiral.• My theory is we're going into this horribledownward spiral and Clinton is a poorimitation of Kennedy.• It has continued on that downward spiral since.• At that point, however, the still increasingemissions of carbondioxide will begin the upward spiral once more.• This has been particularly true of the hi-techsector, hence the downward spiral in shareprices.• Obviously the past year I somehow got on the downward spiral at work.• Self-pity tends to block taking action that will be truly effective in reversing the downward spirals of primary and family diseases.• Perhaps the most shocking news was that children got hit the hardest in this downward spiral.spiralspiral2 verb (spiralled, spiralling British English, spiraled, spiraling American English) [intransitive]1[always + adverb/preposition]TURN to move in a continuous curve that gets nearer to or further from its central point as it goes roundspiral to/around etcThe damaged plane spiralled to the ground.2if a situationspirals, it gets worse, more violent etc in a way that cannot be controlledCrime has spiraled out of control.3INCREASE IN NUMBER OR AMOUNTif debt or the cost of something spirals, it increases quickly in a way that cannot be controlled syn escalate —spiralling British English, spiraling American English adjectivethe spiralling cost of legal services→ See Verb table